Ever try Kreinik metallic ribbon as a substitute for your flat braid? It comes in varying widths and a billion colors. A lot of times I’ll use it in beetle patterns for legs. Tie it in between the body and head, slice it partially lengthwise and it will fray into a bunch of strands.
I was watching Butch caddis video when this one arrived. I’ve been catching fish on Elk caddis lately Going to ties some of these for bass down South in Tx. Thanks Kelly!
There's a trend out there at the moment, I see a lot of the famous casters doing it. To adapt their lightweight trout rods to use them for bass fishing with larger flies and stuff using various mini and micro skagit head line set up's. They've come out with floating mini skagit's too. I have got my doubts as to the presentation aspects of skagit casting using dry flies. But there are terrestrials, which are dry flies with rubber legs and stuff. One of the advantages that they claim they have (important for bass fishing in wooded streams and rivers, where casting accuracy can help), is the skagit lines are able to 'load' the light weight fly rods over shorter distances. So there is enough load being imposed on the rod, in order to offer the angler accuracy in where they place their fly over shorter distances.
Definitely, it's a help to be able to achieve that using terrestrial flies, and rubber leg patterns of various kinds. One of the things that one will notice with that kind of fishing, is the take-able trout are sometimes lying within a very short distance away on these smaller rivers. And they will greatfully accept a terrestrial imitation, if presented in just the right place. My hat had to go off though to Ed Ward, in terms of making his fly casting technique more visible and understandable. He actually attached a light weight 'golf ball' to the end of the line, so that it showed up in the video recording the pathway of the actual fly as it traveled around in space around his head.
There is really two kinds of dry fly fishing, that are completely poles apart from each other. One kind of dry fly fishing is exemplified by the guys who want to 'extend the drift'. Namely, they want to achieve drag-free drifts of small imitations in sometimes difficult and un-even water conditions, over a very long distance. They've gone away completely from having 'power' and distance in their fly casting. Instead they have gone right back to basics, to look at the essential things in dry fly fishing, such as being able to alight an imitation on the water with the least amount of disturbance or alarm to the trout. Then one has another kind of dry fly fishing, where the 'take' doesn't come five or six seconds after the initial landing of the fly (which is basically an eternity). One has the kind of dry fly technique, where the trout hits the fly like a freight train almost before the fly has landed.
I guess, the point is that, a few flies such as this Ant Acid are nice to have in the fly box. For those situations that present themselves, where the drift may not to be terribly long in duration. But the takes might come very savagely and very fast. Those flashy parts to the tail end of the dry fly in the Ant Acid, are really going to be visible to the trout, even before the fly lands on the water at all. Because these kinds of trout are most likely swimming at quiet a depth underneath, and they will 'time their run' to coincide with something like this dropping on the water that looks of interest.
The skagit casting lines (which came from a background completely different to that of 'dry fly fishing'), have been used lately in floating variants for fishing larger dry flies and poppers. However, they are able to present larger floating patterns, just as well as they are able to present the large steel head wet flies, that the original skagit lines were designed to haul. Ed Ward again, explains how that works in terms of his three dimensional casting. He explains that using the Skagit tactics, it's possible to get nice tight, forward casting loops that are able to undercut a lot of overhanging vegetation and still present a fly on the water with accuracy and relative delicacy. I'm just thinking about how much fun it would be to try out some of these terrestrial imitations, using this novel fly casting technique. As I said, with these terrestrial patterns, because the take can often be so fast and so aggressive, that one can manage to trade away some of the delicacy of presentation and uniformity of floating fly drift.
Another excellent video, Kelly. I'll definitely tie up a few of these. Size 12 seems large, though? If the Maddison has size 12 ants, what size are the Hoppers? And should I be scared?
Jack, We usually tie larger sizes for the videos because they are easy to see. However, the flying honey ants that are around in late August are about a 12-14.
You make dubbing look so easy and don’t use wax. I’ve read different things about it (twist one direction) but with or without wax I get these loose fuzzy stringy hair balls that won’t wrap worth a damn😑. Do you wet your fingers or something. You get perfect symmetry on the string that makes great wraps. I love the way this Ant acid😂 looks and would like to tie them but good dubbing eludes me. *Edit: Found your videos on dubbing, great explanations I was using the wrong type. Live & learn. Caught around 50 perch in 3 short trips to local river..Ant Acid hunts!👍
If you watch, he wets his fingers just before he pulls the dubbing out of the bag. He’s always using very little dubbing and pinching hard when he wraps. Truly a master at dubbing. Practice, practice, practice
Thank you Roger D. I figure I’ll get better with practice, can’t expect to tie like these masters already, I have to earn it, I’ve only been tying 6-7 months but really enjoy catching fish on something I made. I tied a couple of rough ones after watching and caught around 20 nice perch this evening so got close enough I guess. They’re spawning in the shallows so not to hard.. but it’s fun! Thanks again. Good fishing to you. Have a great Easter weekend 🎣
I noticed you don’t dub over the elk hair tips after you tie them in and there is some hair showing underneath. Is this to keep the bulb so that it doesn’t get too thick covering them? Love your videos, thanks for all you do!
MrFunk, Generally the top ones get covered by the thread between the two bumps when you put the legs in the bottom ones I just missed in the trim cause I talk to much. Thanks for watching. Kelly
Kelly - What size of swinger hair stacker did you use on this fly? I love the videos. Would you be interested in making a tying video of your Snowshoe Hopper?
Those fancy high speed tying videos have their place but there’s no one else I’d rather learn from 🤙
You’re a great tying teacher, Kelly! Thanks for all your videos. Had a great weekend on the Madison with that fly from your shop last September.
Ever try Kreinik metallic ribbon as a substitute for your flat braid? It comes in varying widths and a billion colors. A lot of times I’ll use it in beetle patterns for legs. Tie it in between the body and head, slice it partially lengthwise and it will fray into a bunch of strands.
Really like that dubbing technique, thanks for sharing
Why? He is so slow, and he knows it.
@@HondoTrailside good things come to those that wait
Great fly Kelly love watching the videos
I was watching Butch caddis video when this one arrived. I’ve been catching fish on Elk caddis lately Going to ties some of these for bass down South in Tx. Thanks Kelly!
There's a trend out there at the moment, I see a lot of the famous casters doing it. To adapt their lightweight trout rods to use them for bass fishing with larger flies and stuff using various mini and micro skagit head line set up's. They've come out with floating mini skagit's too. I have got my doubts as to the presentation aspects of skagit casting using dry flies. But there are terrestrials, which are dry flies with rubber legs and stuff. One of the advantages that they claim they have (important for bass fishing in wooded streams and rivers, where casting accuracy can help), is the skagit lines are able to 'load' the light weight fly rods over shorter distances. So there is enough load being imposed on the rod, in order to offer the angler accuracy in where they place their fly over shorter distances.
Definitely, it's a help to be able to achieve that using terrestrial flies, and rubber leg patterns of various kinds. One of the things that one will notice with that kind of fishing, is the take-able trout are sometimes lying within a very short distance away on these smaller rivers. And they will greatfully accept a terrestrial imitation, if presented in just the right place. My hat had to go off though to Ed Ward, in terms of making his fly casting technique more visible and understandable. He actually attached a light weight 'golf ball' to the end of the line, so that it showed up in the video recording the pathway of the actual fly as it traveled around in space around his head.
There is really two kinds of dry fly fishing, that are completely poles apart from each other. One kind of dry fly fishing is exemplified by the guys who want to 'extend the drift'. Namely, they want to achieve drag-free drifts of small imitations in sometimes difficult and un-even water conditions, over a very long distance. They've gone away completely from having 'power' and distance in their fly casting. Instead they have gone right back to basics, to look at the essential things in dry fly fishing, such as being able to alight an imitation on the water with the least amount of disturbance or alarm to the trout. Then one has another kind of dry fly fishing, where the 'take' doesn't come five or six seconds after the initial landing of the fly (which is basically an eternity). One has the kind of dry fly technique, where the trout hits the fly like a freight train almost before the fly has landed.
I guess, the point is that, a few flies such as this Ant Acid are nice to have in the fly box. For those situations that present themselves, where the drift may not to be terribly long in duration. But the takes might come very savagely and very fast. Those flashy parts to the tail end of the dry fly in the Ant Acid, are really going to be visible to the trout, even before the fly lands on the water at all. Because these kinds of trout are most likely swimming at quiet a depth underneath, and they will 'time their run' to coincide with something like this dropping on the water that looks of interest.
The skagit casting lines (which came from a background completely different to that of 'dry fly fishing'), have been used lately in floating variants for fishing larger dry flies and poppers. However, they are able to present larger floating patterns, just as well as they are able to present the large steel head wet flies, that the original skagit lines were designed to haul. Ed Ward again, explains how that works in terms of his three dimensional casting. He explains that using the Skagit tactics, it's possible to get nice tight, forward casting loops that are able to undercut a lot of overhanging vegetation and still present a fly on the water with accuracy and relative delicacy. I'm just thinking about how much fun it would be to try out some of these terrestrial imitations, using this novel fly casting technique. As I said, with these terrestrial patterns, because the take can often be so fast and so aggressive, that one can manage to trade away some of the delicacy of presentation and uniformity of floating fly drift.
Called an acid but it seems like a small hopper or beetle.very very nice
This is an ant pattern. A play on the medication for heart burn "antacid"
Another excellent video, Kelly. I'll definitely tie up a few of these. Size 12 seems large, though? If the Maddison has size 12 ants, what size are the Hoppers? And should I be scared?
Jack,
We usually tie larger sizes for the videos because they are easy to see. However, the flying honey ants that are around in late August are about a 12-14.
You make dubbing look so easy and don’t use wax. I’ve read different things about it (twist one direction) but with or without wax I get these loose fuzzy stringy hair balls that won’t wrap worth a damn😑. Do you wet your fingers or something. You get perfect symmetry on the string that makes great wraps. I love the way this Ant acid😂 looks and would like to tie them but good dubbing eludes me. *Edit: Found your videos on dubbing, great explanations I was using the wrong type. Live & learn. Caught around 50 perch in 3 short trips to local river..Ant Acid hunts!👍
If you watch, he wets his fingers just before he pulls the dubbing out of the bag. He’s always using very little dubbing and pinching hard when he wraps. Truly a master at dubbing. Practice, practice, practice
Charlie Boutin try putting your middle finger on top of your index finger when you dub. Doubles your strength👍🏼
Thank you Roger D. I figure I’ll get better with practice, can’t expect to tie like these masters already, I have to earn it, I’ve only been tying 6-7 months but really enjoy catching fish on something I made. I tied a couple of rough ones after watching and caught around 20 nice perch this evening so got close enough I guess. They’re spawning in the shallows so not to hard.. but it’s fun! Thanks again. Good fishing to you. Have a great Easter weekend 🎣
Thank you Kevin..will do!
Charlie, first try using less dubbing, and yes I will wet my fingers a little now and then, thanks for watching. Kelly
I noticed you don’t dub over the elk hair tips after you tie them in and there is some hair showing underneath. Is this to keep the bulb so that it doesn’t get too thick covering them? Love your videos, thanks for all you do!
MrFunk, Generally the top ones get covered by the thread between the two bumps when you put the legs in the bottom ones I just missed in the trim cause I talk to much. Thanks for watching. Kelly
@@TheSlideinn that makes sense. Appreciate the response, you’re a legend!
Kelly … do you use cement/glue during your tying? I have never seen you use it in your videos. Thanks. Todd
TC, yes on occasion and almost always with GSP. KG
Cool. Thanks. T
Do you use the rubber legs on the small sizes (16 or smaller) if so, which rubber legs do you recommend?
Kelly -
What size of swinger hair stacker did you use on this fly? I love the videos. Would you be interested in making a tying video of your Snowshoe Hopper?
Kelly, you ever use furled leaders for dry flies? i've heard they are popular over in england.
Nice tutorial, thanks!
We usually don't fish them too much over here, but they are awesome for Spring Creeks and other small, techy rivers
Was it gudebrod electra braid in the org one
Magnus, yes it was, thank you. Kelly
Nice! What kind of leader set up?
Usually just a standard 9 foot 4x-6x leader
Nice :-)
First